My post-birth periods have been no pain (used to get mild-moderate cramps on Day 1) and about the same amount of bleeding as before. Yours won't necessarily get worse and could well be better. Yes, you just stop and don't take it again after the week off.

You say his vasectomy was ‘successful’ - presumably he’s had the required number of negative sperm tests?If so you can stop your contraceptive pill at any time in the cycle, no need to finish a pack if you don’t want to. You can expect a withdrawal bleed when you stop.As to your future periods, then you won’t know. There’s no method of predicting how they will be when you start ‘normal’ periods as opposed to pill withdrawal bleeds tbh. It varies from woman to woman. However if they become a problem, you can discuss means of managing them: going back on an oral contraceptive, mirena IUD, or non-contraceptive means.

I'm like this too. I like being on the pill, knowing when I'll start, when I'll stop and being able to skip when I want. I'm not sure I could go back to unpredictability. I've been on it for 19 years, except for the 3 months it took me to get pregnant and then being pregnant obviously. I don't have an answer but I do know where you're coming from!

If you like the sense of control the pill gives you, you could consider charting initially?

When I came off of hormonal birth control I chose to use the Natural Cycles app and to track my BBT. It gave me a sense of when I was ovulating, and therefore when my period would come. You may not fall into a precise cycle but generally, your luteal phase will be consistent month to month.

Natural Cycles is subscription-based, but one of the free ones would work if you're not using it for contraceptive purposes.

Charting is just tracking your body's natural cycle phases. When you're ovulating, when you have your period, etc. Helpful when trying to conceive or avoid it. BBT is your body temperature - it fluctuates based on what part of your cycle you are in, so after a few months of monitoring these you will know your cycle and predict periods etc.

I'm not sure how relevant that would be for you. Basically you just have to chance it and come off of it. I came off the pill and my cycles stayed the exact same, no change and no heavy bleeding.

I think if you don't need to be on the pill for contraception or hormone balancing then you should come off. There are risks to being on it as with all medication so personally I wouldn't take it just to know when my periods will be! I use an app called period tracker which is helpful to get an idea (although I can be irregular so it's not an exact science!).